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THE FORGETFUL 
LETTER B 

Fun-filled Tales for 
Very Little People 

By 

Richard A. Qlarke 

Illustrated by 

Josephine Weage 



The Reilly & Lee Co. 
Chicago 



Printed in the United States of America 



Copyright, 1922 
b y 

The Reilly & Lee Co. 


All Rights Reserved 


The Forgetful Letter B 

ftUG - ! 1922 


©CI.A681195 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

1 The Forgetful Letter B Tells About His Two Aunts 7 

2 The Forgetful Letter B Tells About the Unfortunate Letter I 12 

3 The Forgetful Letter B Tells All About President A 16 

4 The Forgetful Letter B Tells the Story of the Proud G-^s 

Daughter 21 

5 The Forgetful Letter B Tells About the Three Lost Letters 27 

6 The Forgetful Letter B Tells About the Two Little-Brother 

Letters 33 

7 The Forgetful Letter B Tells the Story of the Clever Man. , 38 

8 The Forgetful Letter B Tells About the Two Silent Letters 44 

9 The Forgetful Letter B Tells About the Letter W 48 

10 The Forgetful Letter B Tells About the Letter that Became 

a Money-Guard 54 

11 The Forgetful Letter B Tells About Santa Claus and Canta 

Slaus 60 

12 The Forgetful Letter B Tells You His Last Story, and Bids 

You Good Night 66 


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CHAPTER 1 

The Forgetful Letter B Tells About 
His Two Aunts 

I am the Forgetful Letter B, and I live in the Alpha- 
bet, next to its beginning. 

Perhaps you wonder why I am called the Forgetful 
Letter B; well, you shall learn why, later on. 

Just now I wish to tell you about my two aunts who 
live in the Alphabet. One of my aunts is the letter 0, 
and the letter Q is the other. They are very nice old 
souls; and once, long ago, they were twins — both 
were O’s. 

Yes, once they were twins; but one day one of them 
lost her temper and acted very rudely. She stuck out 
7 


The Forgetful Letter B 

her tongue at her sister. Wasn’t that perfectly 
dreadful? 

Oh, my ! it was the most dreadful thing that had ever 
happened in the Alphabet. And my rude aunt was 
severely punished. 

She was told that she must never put her tongue 
back into her mouth again. She must keep it out, for- 
ever and forever. 

And from that day to this she has been the letter Q. 

Do you understand? Aunty Q is exactly like aunty 
O, excepting that her tongue is out. 

You have not yet found out why I am said to be for- 
getful, have you? Never mind; you will learn later 
on. 

My aunt 0 is a maiden lady, but my aunt Q is mar- 
ried. Her husband’s name is IJ, and aunty Q is quite 
fond of him. She likes him so well that she never, 
never goes to a party unless he goes along. 

Did you know that the letters in the Alphabet are 
always giving parties'^ Why, were it not for letter- 
parties, there would be no words. 

Maybe you did not know this, but it is the truth. To 
show you what a letter-party is like, I will give one 
this very minute. It must be a small party, as I am 
too tired to give a large one. I will invite three letters 
8 



9 





The Forgetful Letter B 

to my party. First I will invite the letter B — which 
is myself: 

B— 

Now, I am at my party. Next, I will invite my 
aunt 0: 

BO— 

See? Aunt 0 has come to my party, and she is sitting 
beside me; so, next I will invite the letter A: 

BOA— 

Whom shall I ask next? Why, the letter T, of 
course: 

BOAT. 

There! I am having a letter-party, and it has made 
the word BOAT. It is a very nice party, and we shall 
go for a ride on the lake. 

— I have changed my mind about going for a ride 
on the lake, as we might tumble into the water and 
get wet. Let us talk about my aunt Q. 

As I was saying, she is very fond of her husband, 
Mr. TJ, and she never thinks of going to a letter-party 
without him. If you will look in the dictionary you 
will see this is all very true. Wherever there is a word 
— I mean a letter-party — in which my aunt Q is to be 
found, you will see her husband sitting beside her. Is 
this not splendid of my aunt? 

10 


Tells About His Two Aunts 


Are you still wondering why I am said to be 
forgetful? 

I think it is too bad that aunt Q’s husband is not 
thoughtful of her. He goes to parties — oh, ever so 
many of them — and never thinks of taking his wife. 
And then she sits in the Alphabet, and cries, and darns 
socks. 

One day Mr. IT went to a letter-party and did not 
take his wife. He had a most horrid time. Here is 
the kind of party he went to: 

HUNGRY! 

Ho, ho, ho! Mr. U came home from the party almost 
starved. And it served him right! 

Now, you must pay very close attention. I am go- 
ing to tell you a secret about the letter K, and you 
must promise never to tell. 

— Oh, dear, me! I have forgotten what the secret is. 
How stupid of me! 

Well, you have learned at last why I am called the 
Forgetful Letter B. 


31 



CHAPTER 2 

The Forgetful Letter B Tells About 
the Unfortunate Letter 1 

Now that I have told you about my two aunts, I 
must tell you about my unfortunate cousin, the letter 1. 

Poor fellow! He is indeed the most unfortunate 
being in all the wide world. 

You must not think, from this, that cousin I is 
always breaking a leg, or being ill on circus day, or 
swallowing his spending-pennies. Oh, no — something 
worse! 

My poor cousin is always being blamed for doing 
things that others do — and should not do. Why, only 
this morning, a little boy named Johnnie threw a 
stone and broke a window-pane. 

12 


Tells About the Unfortunate Letter I 


Was that any fault of my cousin’s? Was the letter I 
to blame? No, not at all. 

After Johnnie threw the stone his mother said to 
him, “Johnnie, my dear, who broke this window-pane? 
Tell me the truth!” 

And this is what Johnnie said: “I broke the win- 
dow-pane, mother.” 

Yes, as truly as I am telling you, Johnnie blamed 
my innocent cousin I. He said to his mother, “I 
broke the window-pane.” 

My cousin did NOT break that pane of glass! 

How could he break anything with a stone, when he 
is not strong enough to even lift a stone — let alone 
throw one! 

And do you know what happened to the poor letter 
I because Johnnie told this about him? 

Why, as soon as it was heard of in the Alphabet, the 
letter J gave a letter-party, and invited A and I and L. 
And this was what the party was like; 

JAIL. 

You understand? My cousin I was put in jail. My 
poor cousin I was arrested and locked up! It was a 
shame, too. It was a great big shame! 

Now I will tell you what happened last Saturday 
afternoon. Last Saturday afternoon a little girl whose 
13 


The Forgetful Letter B 


name is Mary Ann was playing with a little girl named 
Susie. Mary Ann’s mother came to them and said, 
“Here is a plate of nice pink ice cream — who will 
eat it?” 



Susie shook her head and said, “I will not eat it.” 

Just think of Susie saying such a thing! And all 
the while my cousin I was starving for some pink ice 
cream. 

Then Mary An n clapped her hands and said, “Oh, 
oh! Goody, goody! I will eat the ice cream!” 

My gracious! Wasn’t my cousin I glad when Mary 
14 


Tells About the Unfortunate Letter 


Ann said this. His mouth began to water at once, be- 
cause he thought surely he would get the pink ice 
cream. But, alas, what do you think happened? 

The ice cream was not given to I. 

It was given to Mary Ann — and she ate it all. My 
poor cousin was so disappointed that he did not know 
what to do. And then, after Mary Ann had eaten the 
ice cream she said, “I should not have eaten this. Now 
I will get the toothache.” 

My cousin was surprised to hear Mary An n say this. 
How could he possibly get the toothache from eating 
the ice cream, when he had not even tasted it? 

But Mary Ann’s mother said, “That means a trip to 
the dentist next Tuesday afternoon.” 

Mary Ann replied, “Yes, on Tuesday afternoon I 
must have the tooth pulled!” 

My, but my cousin was frightened when he heard 
this. And he was frightened still more when Mary 
Ann shook her head sadly and groaned, “Oh, it will 
hurt ever and ever so much!” 

And now my poor unhappy cousin, the letter I, is 
sitting in the Alphabet quite sick at heart. 

Alas! Alas! On next Tuesday afternoon he must 
have a tooth pulled ! 


15 



CHAPTEK 3 


The Forgetful Letter B Tells All 
About President A 


Ho, ho! Ha, ha! 

Tee, hee, hee! 

Do you hear me laughing? 

I always laugh when I think of the time when letter 
'A. was elected President of the Alphabet. 

It was so funny — so very, very funny! 

Long, long ago, the letters of the Alphabet were all 
mixed up. They did not live in the neat apple-pie 
order they do now. Oh, no. And one day the letter A 
said to the other letters, “I have been thinking.” 

The letter V frowned and asked, “What about — the 
pretty Miss C?” 


16 


Tells All About President A 


A blushed and cried, “No, indeed! I am not forever 
thinking about the pretty letter 0, like you are. I 
have been thinking of what a wonderful thing the 
Alphabet is. It is quite the most wonderful thing in 
all the wide world. And because of this we ought to 
have a King, or a Queen.” 

“Hurrah! That is a fine idea!” cried the letter V. 
“I will be the King, and pretty Miss C can be my 
Queen — if she wishes to.” 

“What are K-K-Kings for?” asked the letter Z, who 
stuttered very badly. “Are they g-g-g-good to eat?” 

V turned pale. “Good to eat!” he gasped; “I guess 
I do not want to be the King ! ” 

The letter A laughed and said, “No, no! Kings are 
not good to eat.” 

“N-n-not even when they are p-p-p-preserved, like 
s-s-strawberry jam?” stuttered the letter Z. 

“No, indeed!” answered A. “Kings are never 
eaten.” 

“All right, then, I will be King,” the letter V said, 
greatly relieved. 

The letter A studied for a moment and then shook 
his head. He said, “Now that I think the matter over, 
I guess we will not have a King. What we need is a 
President, and I will be the President.” 

17 


'Fhe Forgetful Letter B 

“What does a President have to do?” asked V, look- 
ing puzzled. 

“Well, I will tell you,” answered A, looking wise. 
“The President of the Alphabet must live at the begin- 
ning of the Alphabet, and he must see that all the let- 
ters behave themselves, and whenever there is pie for 
supper he must get the biggest piece.” 

“I wish I could be the P-P-President!” exclaimed 
the stuttering Z. “What else must he d-d-do?” 

“He must marry the pretty letter 0,” shouted the 
letter V, and then he sang: 

‘^And I am going to be the President, 

I am going to be the President, 

I am going to be the President! ” 


“Not so fast, not so fast,” said A; “the letters of the 
Alphabet shall hold an election and vote to see which 
of the two of us shall be their President.” 

“I agree to that!” cried V. “The letters that want 
you for President can call out your name. The letters 
wanting me for President shall call my name. If your 
name is called the most times, then you are the Pres- 
ident. If my name is called the most times, I am the 
President.” 


18 



19 




Tells All About President A 


The election took place at once. Some of the letters 
shouted: 

“A!” 

And some of the letters shouted: 

“V!» 

At the end of five minutes it was found that V’s 
name had been shouted six more times than A’s. 

“Hurrah!” cried the letter V dancing up and down, 
“I have the most votes, and I will get the biggest 
piece of pie, and I will marry the pretty letter 0 1 Will 
you marry me. Miss C?” 

“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” shouted A. “The 
letter Z has not voted yet.” 

And then the stuttering letter Z drew in a deep 
breath and roared: 

A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A-A ! ” 

“Ten more votes for the letter A, and that puts him 
ahead!” cried the letters of the Alphabet. “A is our 
President!” 

Ha, ha, ha! Ho, ho, ho! 

Doesn’t it make you feel like laughing too? 

Well, then, why don’t you laugh? 


20 



CHAPTER 4 


The Forgetful Letter B Tells the Story 
of the Proud G’s Daughter 

Not long after A was made President of the Alpha- 
bet, the letter V said to Miss C: 

“Please, pretty letter C, will you marry me?” 

And the pretty letter C blushed and answered, “I 
will marry you if my father, the proud letter G, is 
willing to have me do so.” 

So V hastened to call upon G, and he whispered into 
his ear, “Please, sir, may I marry your daughter?” 

The proud G frowned, and in a haughty voice he 
said, “I am very proud of my daughter, and I am very^ 
21 


The Forgetful Letter B 


proud of myself. But I am not proud of you, and you 
shall never marry the pretty 0.” 

“Oh, dear me!”' the letter V cried, and he never 
spoke to the proud Gr again for years, and years, and 
hundreds of years. 

When five hundred years had passed, V made up his 
mind to speak to the haughty O again, and this is what 
he said: 

“Why are you not proud of me?” 

“Because you are not a President!” answered G as 
he tilted his nose high in the air and walked away. 

“ Oh, dear me ! ” the letter V moaned, and he never, 
never spoke to G again, for years and years and hun- 
dreds of years. 

One day, after hundreds and hundreds of years had 
passed by, the proud letter G was talking to President 
A, when V chanced along. The letter V did not speak 
to the President, nor did he so much as nod to the 
proud G. 

This made President A quite angry, and he whis- 
pered to the proud G, “What do you suppose ails that 
letter? Am I not good enough for him to notice?” 
Then he shouted after V, “Smarty! Smarty! Smarty!” 

V turned about and said, “Huh! you had better not 
be calling me names! ” 


22 


Tells of the Proud G’s Daughter 


President A cried again, “Smarty! Smarty! 
Smarty!” 

“You just wait!” raged the letter V. “You will be 
sorry for your impudence. I am going to tell one of 
my Senators about you, and also I will tell one of my 



Congressmen. They will attend to you!” 

“Smarty!” shouted President A. 

“Oh, o-o-o-o-oh! I know what I will do!” cried V. 
“I will tell the big policeman who stands guard in 
23 


The Forgetful Letter B 

front of the grand White House I am going to live in 
— I will tell the big fierce policeman what you have 
been calling me, and he will — ” 

“Eun along, Smarty!” interrupted the proud letter 
Gr, “run along, I tell you!” 

V turned upon the proud G1 and cried, “Ho! I will 
tell the General of my United States Army to blow 
you up with gunpowder! And if he hasn’t the time, I 
will tell the Admiral of my United States Navy to 
push you into the ocean. And then when you have 
been pushed into the ocean, a big whale will come 
along and grab hold of you and swallow you down 
head-first!” 

“Ho, ho!” laughed G, “the whale would not dare 
swallow so fine a person as I!” 

“He will if the President of the United States of 
America wants him to,” declared V. 

“Little you know about what the President of the 
United States of America wants whales to do,” 
said A. 

“I know all about it!” V cried, puffing himself up 
like a frog. “I know all about it, because I am the 
President of the United States of America!” 

“ W-w-w-w-what is this?” gasped the proud G. “ Say 
it again!” 


24 


Tells of the Proud G’s Daughter 


V made a stiff bow and tilted his head high in the 
air. “I said that I am the President of the United 
States of America,” he replied, “and I wish to tell you, 
Mr. G, that I am going to marry your daughter.” 

The proud G turned pale. “W-w-w-when did you 
become President of — of — of the United States of 
America?” he stammered. 

“I do not know when, and I do not care when,” 
answered V. “I know that I am President, and that 
is enough for me, and it should be enough for you.” 

The proud and haughty letter G looked very 
thoughtful for a moment. Then he patted V upon the 
shoulder and shook him by the hand and smiled. “I 
am very, very proud of you!” he cried. “And you 
shall marry my pretty daughter!” 

V blushed deeply at these words and looked ever so 
happy. “Is it not wonderful!” he whispered. “I am 
a President, and I am going to marry the pretty C!” 

“Wonderful indeed!” chimed in the letter A. “But 
why have you kept it a secret from us?” 

“Because it has been kept a secret from me,” V 
replied. “I never knew a thing about it until yester- 
day.” 

“Well, well, well!” exclaimed G. 

And then V explained. “Yesterday,” he said, “I 
25 


The Forgetful Letter B 


saw a man give Ms little boy a live dollar bill for a 
birthday present. The man told his little boy that he 
should be very proud of Ms live dollar bill because the 
picture of a President of the United States of America 
was printed upon it.” 

“Did the man say it was your picture?” asked G. 

“No, he didn’t say that,” answered V. “He did not 
need to say it. I could see for myself. I stole a peep 
at the live dollar bill and — goodness gracious sakes 
alive! there was my picture printed upon it! My pic- 
ture! — A great big handsome letter V!” 

Mr. G could hold himself no longer. He threw his 
arms around V and cried and wept, and wept and 
cried, and cried and wept. “I am so proud of you!” 
he shouted over and over again. “I am so proud of 
you, my wonderful President-of-the-United-States- 
son-in-law!” 

And that night, at half past eight o’clock, there was 
a joyful wedding in the Alphabet. 


26 



CHAPTER 5 

The Forgetful Letter B Tells About 
the Three Lost Letters 

Are you ready for another story? 

Yes? 

All right. 

Once upon a time, quite a number of years ago, my 
cousin 0 and my cousin H and my uncle U did not 
come home for supper one evening. 

We had pickles and doughnuts and butter and 
water to eat, but C and H and TJ missed all these fine 
goodies because they did not come home. 

The letter S, who cooked the supper, called at the 
top of his voice for my cousins and my uncle. The 
letter S shouted, “Come to supper, C, we are going to 
27 


The Forgetful Letter B 


have pickles I Come to supper, H, we are going to 
have doughnuts! Come to supper, TJ, we are going 
to have water and butter!” 

But my cousin C and my cousin H and my uncle U 
did not come. And after the supper was over, all we 
Alphabet letters went in search of them. 

We hunted all night long, and we hunted all during 
the next day, and the next night, and the next day, and 
the NEXT night. Oh, well, we hunted and hunted, 
without doing any finding, and then we made up our 
minds that the three letters were lost. 

Then we all sat down and cried. 

Pretty soon a man came along and he asked, “ What 
is wrong, little letters?” 

And I said to the man, “My cousin C is lost, and my 
cousin H is lost, and my uncle TJ is lost!” 

The kind man nodded, and he told us not to worry. 
He declared he would find our missing friends. Then 
he walked about, in this direction and in that direction, 
calling as loudly as he could, “Hello! Hello! C-H-IJ! 
— C-H-IJ! — Where are you?” 

But the letter C and the letter H and the letter U 
did not answer, and the kind man came back and said 
to me, “They do not seem to hear me. Maybe my 
voice is not loud enough. But you need not worry. I 
28 


Tells About the Three Lost Letters 


am a wonderful inventor, and I will build something 
that will have a very loud voice. I will send it over 
the land, far and near, to call the names of the lost 
ones.” 

So the man built something that ate coal, and that 
puffed out black smoke like a dragon, and he called it 
by the name of “Engine.” Then the man made a track 
for the engine to walk upon, and the track was miles 
and miles long. 

When the man had finished making these wonderful 
things, he smiled and patted himself on the head, and 
he was very proud. He whispered to the Engine, “Go, 
follow this track to wherever it may lead, and find the 
three lost letters. As you travel along, keep shouting 
the names of these letters, so that they may hear you, 
and answer.” 

The Engine grunted and wheezed, and walked 
away. As it journeyed along the track it shouted 
over and over again, “C-H-U! — 0-H-U! — CHIJ-CHTJ- 
CHU-CHU-CHU-CHU!” 

Oh, yes, it kept shouting the names of my two lost 
cousins and my lost uncle — “C-H-U! — C-H-U! — 
CHU-CHU-CHU-CHU-CHU-CHU-CHU! ” 

The Engine walked faster and faster, and the faster 
it walked the faster it called out the three names. 

29 


The Forgetful Letter B 


But C and H and TJ did not answer. 

At last the Engine reached the end of the track, and 
there it stopped. It felt very badly because the letters 
could not be found, and the kind man who invented 
the Engine, and was riding upon it, felt badly, too. 



The kind man groaned, and the Engine wheezed. 
The man waved his arms and cried to the Engine, 
“Back up! we must find the lost letters. We must find 
C and H and TJ! Back up!” 

So the Engine started to walk backwards upon the 
30 


Tells About the Three Lost Letters 


track, shouting at the top of its harsh voice, shouting 
so loudly that sparks flew from its mouth, “C-H-U! — 
C-H-U! — CHU-CHU-CHU-CHU-CHU-CHU-CHU!” 

And the kind man rang a bell, and tooted a whistle, 
which were a part of the Engine, and he kept a sharp 
watch ahead, but C and H and U did not answer. 

When the Engine got back to where it had first 
started from, the kind man told it to stop. The letters 
of the Alphabet gathered round the man and he told 
them not to worry. He would never stop hunting until 
he had found the lost C and H and U, if it took five 
hundred years. He said he would build more Engines 
and lay more track. And he would build coaches to 
fasten to the engines, and he would fill the coaches 
with people, and tell the people to keep a watch out of 
the coach windows for the missing letters. 

So more Engines were built, and more track was 
laid, and people were carried hither and thither all 
over the land, looking for C and H and H. 

And day in and day out, night in and night out, the 
Engines walked and ran about on their tracks, shout- 
ing at the top of their voices, “C-H-TJ! — 0-H-H! — • 
CHU-CHU-CHU-CHH!” And the people in the 
coaches looked out of the windows, watching for the 
lost letters. 


31 


The Forgetful Letter B 


And then, one day, the three letters were found. 
The letter K discovered my two cousins and my uncle. 
I forget where it was that K found them — but that 
does not matter. 

They were found, and they came back again to live 
in the Alphabet, and K was given a reward. I forget 
what the reward was. 

And — oh, gracious, me! I have been forgetting, all 
these years since my relatives were found, to tell the 
kind man about it. 

That is the reason why the kind man is still sending 
out his Engines that shout, “C-H-U! — C-H-U! — CHU- 
CHU-CHU I ” and that the Engines are pulling coaches 
filled with people who are looking out of the windows, 
watching, watching, watching. 


.S2 



CHAPTEE 6 

The Forgetful Letter B Tells About 
the Two Little-Brother Letters 

Each letter of the Alphabet has a little brother. 
Here is the letter K’s little brother — k. 

And here is the letter E’s little brother — e. 

K’s little brother and E’s little brother are about the 
same age. Did you know that? 

Now I will introduce you to M’s little brother — m. 
Ah, yes, and here is little a. He is the brother of 
the President of the Alphabet. 

Would you like to see my little brother? All right, 
I will call him. 

Little brother! — Little brother! — Little brother-r- 
33 


The Forgetful Letter B 

r-r-r-r-r! — come here a minute, someone wants to see- 
e-e-e you! 

There he is; my little brother — b. Would you care 
to hold him on your lap? 

I know what let’s do! You hold my little brother 
on your lap while I tell him a story. I will tell him 
a story about some bullets. It is a true story, but very, 
very sad; and I wish little b to hear it so he will not 
be wanting to own a bullet-shooting gun. 

Now, you must please hold tightly to little b — es- 
pecially when I come to the sad part of the story. 
And if you should start crying yourself, please hold 
your head to one side, so my little brother will not be 
caught in the rain. 

Once upon a time there were two very bad little- 
brother letters, and they would never be good. I will 
not tell their names Just now — but they were not k or 
g, nor b or d, nor f or z. 

One day these two little-brother letters were each 
given a bullet-shooting gun with a bullet apiece. 

And these two bad, bad, bad little-brother letters 
loaded the guns with the bullets, and they pointed the 
guns straight up in the air. 0-o-o-o-oh! and they 
pulled the triggers! 

“Bang!” roared the guns in one voice. 

34 


K 



The Forgetful Letter B 


“ WMzzzzzzzzzzzz I ” screeched the two bullets as 
they popped out of the guns, and climbed up, up, up, 
up, up into the air. 

Up, up, up, whizzed the bullets, up, up, up ! — 
higher and higher and higher they climbed. 

Goodness me! these two round hard bullets climbed 
until they were a mile high, and then they stopped. 
But they only stopped for an instant, and they started 
moving again. They began moving back to earth. 
They began to fall. 

Yes, they were falling down to earth; they were 
falling faster and faster and faster, and goodness pity 
whatever they chanced to bump against! They were 
soon falling with such great speed that, had they hit 
a big stone, the stone would have been smashed into 
dust. 

The two bullets fell and fell and fell, and they were 
falling exactly over the heads of the two bad and mis- 
chievous little-brother letters, who were standing 
very still, laughing and giggling. 

And, oh, oh, oh! the two little letters did not know 
that the bullets were rushing upon them! 

Dear, oh dear! is not this story getting to be sad? I 
almost wish I had not started it. And the two round 
hard bullets fell and fell and fell, faster and faster and 
36 


Tells About the Three Lost Letters 


faster, until they were only five hundred feet high. 

And they were falling directly upon the two poor, 
bad little-brother letters. Isn’t this dreadful? 

The two round bullets kept falling, faster and faster, 
until they were only ten feet from the heads of the 
poor, dear, bad little-brother letters. 

Then, in less time than I can tell of it, the wicked 
round bullets were only two feet above the little- 
brothers’ heads. 

Boo, hoo, hoo! And then the bullets were only two 
inches above. 

And then — and then — boo, hoo!— and then they 
were only one-half an inch above ! 

Wa-a— a-ah! Boo, hoo, wa-a-a-a-a-ah! and then only 
the width of a hair above! 

Wa-a-a-ah! 

Oh, I cannot finish this story! It would be cruel, it 
would be wicked! I must stop right here. 

I must let the two hard, round bullets stay where 
they now are. 

Yes, the bullets, now but the width of a hair above 
the heads of the little-brother letters, must stay there. 
Just like this: 

i j 


37 



CHAPTER 7 


Forgetful Letter B Tells the Story 
of the Clever Man 


There was once a man who was very clever, but he 
was also very tricky. 

Because of his cleverness he was always doing some- 
thing wonderful. And because of his trickiness he 
was always making trouble. 

And do you know what this man did once? 

Why, he built a machine, and then he said to him- 
self, “What a fine home this machine will he for the 
Alphabet letters to live in.” 

Then he went to President A and shook hands with 
him, and patted him on the head, and gave him some 
candy, and bought him some pretty cuff-buttons. And 
38 



Tells the Story of the Clever Man 


President A was greatly pleased. He said to the man, 
“You are wonderfully kind-hearted. I like you ever 
so much. I wish I could do something for you, in 
return for the presents you have given me.” 

The man smiled, and curled his moustaches, and 
gave President A some more candy. Then he said, 
“Oh, I am giving you presents because you are such 
a good letter. You are such a wonderful letter, to be 
the President of the Alphabet. And do you know 
what I am going to do for you now?” 

“No,” answered President A. “What are you going 
to do for me now?” 

Oh, this man was very, very clever, and he was full 
of sly tricks. 

“Well,” the man whispered, “I have built a very 
fine machine.” 

“WTiat kind of machine is it?” President A asked, 
“and what are you going to do with it?” 

“It is a typewriter, and I am going to give it to you 
to live in!” cried the man, clapping his hands and 
hopping up and down. “It is going to be your home.” 

“Oh, that is very good of you,” said the letter A. 
“But I cannot leave the Alphabet letters, to go away 
and live by myself. I am their President, you know, 
and I must stay with them.” 

39 


The Forgetful Letter B 


“Do not worry about the other letters,” whispered 
the clever man. “They shall live in the machine with 
you. There is plenty of room for the whole Alphabet.” 


The letter A thought for a moment, and then he said. 



“All right. Since you have been so kind to build a 
nice typewriter-home for us, we will come and live 
in it.” 

And then, do you know what happened? 

Why, all the letters of the Alphabet, and their little- 
40 


Tells the Story of the Clever Man 


brother letters, moved into the typewriter, and began 
to keep house there. They were very happy in their 
new home, and the man came to them every day to ask 
if they were comfortable, and if their new home 
pleased them. 

President A would always say to the man, “Oh, 
thank you, we are ever and ever so comfortable, and 
we will live here as long as you will allow us to.” 

Things were running nicely with the Alphabet let- 
ters, until, one day, the man put a sheet of white paper 
into the typewriter. The letters did not like to share 
their home with a sheet of paper, and President A said 
to the man, “What is this sheet of paper doing here?” 

The man replied, “Well, you see, I just put the 
paper in with you so you could teach it good manners. 
It does not behave itself very well, and I want you 
polite letters to show it how to be good. If the sheet 
of paper does anything it should not do, just punish it 
a little, please.” 

The man then went away. The next day he re- 
turned to the Alphabet’s typewriter-home, and there 
was a very tricky look upon his face. 

An ri, do you know what the man did? 

He struck President A a sharp blow with his finger, 
when A was not looking. Wasn’t that horrid? 

41 


The Forgetful Letter B 


President A cried, “Ouch! Who hit me? Who dared 
to strike the President of the Alphabet?” 

“It was the ill-mannered sheet of paper that struck 
you,” whispered the man. 

And President A declared he would punish the rude 
sheet of paper if it did such a thing again. 

Very slyly, the man struck the letter A a second 
time. 

“Ouch!” roared A, and he threw himself upon the 
paper with such force that the blow made the type- 
writer-home rattle. Indeed, the President left a mark 
of himself upon the rude sheet of paper, so hard did 
he strike it. 

“Hooray!” shouted the clever man. “Hooray, 
hooray!” And then he very slyly struck me — the 
letter B — with his finger. And I hit the paper as 
hard as A had done, and left the mark of myself upon 
it. But the man had not fooled me a bit; I knew he 
had struck me, all the while. But I made believe I 
thought it was the sheet of paper. You see, I did not 
dare blame the man, because he was too big for me to 
hit. 

After the man had struck me with his finger, he 
struck all the other letters, one after the other, over 


42 


Tells the Story of the Clever Man 


and over again, and they, in turn, struck the sheet of 
paper. 

Before long, the paper was so covered with letter- 
marks that it looked like the printed page of a book. 

And then — would you believe it? the man took the 
sheet of paper away, and put another rude sheet into 
our typewriter-home. The man kept striking us Al- 
phabet letters with his finger, blaming it on the paper, 
and the Alphabet letters whacked, whacked, and 
whacked back, until this second sheet of paper looked 
like the printed page of a book. 

Oh, dear me! It seems, now, that about all we let- 
ters do any more is teach good manners to rude sheets 
of white paper. 

I wish that we had never moved into the typewriter- 
home! 


43 



CHAPTEE 8 

The Forgetful Letter B Tells About 
the Two Silent Letters 

I remember! 

Hip, hurray! — I remember! 

Oh, yes, indeed! — I remember now the secret that 
I forgot about the letter K. 

Do you wish to hear it? 

This is really a double secret. It is about two let- 
ters — K and G, 

The same secret fits them both. 

Isn’t that wonderful? A double secret! 

Just listen: 

The letter K and the letter G are both jealous of 
the letter N. And they give letter-parties and invite 

44 


Tells About the Two Silent Letters 


N to come and sit beside them, and they behave per- 
fectly dreadful. 

The other day K gave a party, and he invited N and 
E. He invited E twice — just to make N feel badly. 
The party was like this: 



K-N-E-E. 

It might as well have been an N-E-E party, without 

any K at all, so far as K was concerned. He did not 

join in the fun for a minute. Although he was giving 

the party, he acted as though he were not there. Never 

once did he help to say a word! 

45 


The Forgetful Letter B 


He kept silent just because N sat next to him. And 
goodness knows he asked N to sit there. 

And, mind you, at all the parties where K is the first 
letter, and N is the second letter, K is never polite. 
He always acts as though his mouth were glued shut; 
he never so much as whispers. He never helps to say 
a word. 

Not longer ago than yesterday morning K gave four 
parties, one after the other. And he sat at the begin- 
ning of each party, and asked N to sit beside him: 
K-N-O-W. 

K-N-O-T. 

K-N-I-T. 

K-N-O-B. 

And at each of these four parties, K’s mouth seemed 
to be fastened tight shut. He kept silent! Oh, the 
jealous letter K, who gives a party, and then never 
helps say a word if N happens to be sitting beside him. 

And it is exactly the same with the letter O. He 
is just as bad as K. They are both alike in their 
jealousy of N, and something should be done with 
them. They should be taught better manners. 

If you will look in your dictionary, and turn to the 
pages where G is giving letter-parties — where G is 
the first letter — you will see that this is true. 

46 


Tells About the Two Silent Letters 


You will see that whenever G gives a party, and 
asks N to sit beside him, like this, G-N, he always 
keeps silent, just like K does. 

Oh, I am sure that something should be done about 
the matter. 

Can you think of a way in which to cure K and G 
of this double secret about themselves? 


47 


1 



CHAPTER 9 


The Forgetful Letter B Tells About 
the Letter W 

S-s-s-sh! Be very quiet, please. 

Would you like to hear how the letter W came to 
change the style in the crowns that kings and princes 
and dukes wore? 

Once upon a time there lived a king who wore a 
crown with six very sharp points. 

He liked his sharp-pointed crown so well that he 
ordered his royal family, and the court nobles, to wear 
the same kind. 

His wife, the queen, however, did not fancy the 
sharp points. But that made no difference to the king. 
’Twas the king’s will that crowns be sharp-pointed, 
and the king’s will was law. 

48 



49 


•<« lUn i«i . Ill 1 1 1 « • • ■ > 


The Forgetful Letter B 


One day the letter W was strolling through the 
grounds of the king’s palace, and he came upon the 
queen, who was sitting on a marble bench weeping. 
“Why does your majesty weep?” asked W. 



“Oh,” sighed the queen, “because I am obliged to 
wear a crown with horrid sharp points. And my three 
little princes must wear them, and my pretty prin- 
cess.” 

“Indeed, that is too bad,” whispered the letter W. 

“Of course it is too bad,” cried the queen. “It is 
an outrage. The sharp points make our crowns look 
like hay-forks! Ugh!” She sat in deep thought for 
a moment and then she said, “I will give five bags of 
gold and three bags of silver to the person who can 


Tells About the Letter W 


cause the king to do away with these sharp points on 
our crowns.” 

The letter W then went his way, declaring to himself 
that he would win the five bags of gold and three bags 
of silver. 

The next afternoon the king was holding a reception 
in his largest ballroom, and the place was crowded 
with lords and dukes and prime ministers and princes 
and princesses, all wearing sharp-pointed crowns. 

The letter W, looking very wise and smiling to him- 
self, entered the palace, and stood in the ballroom 
doorway. 

The king and the queen and all the fine nobles were 
bowing to one another and shaking hands, and having 
a fine time, and their sharp-pointed crowns glistened 
like suns. 

Suddenly the letter W shouted at the top of his 
voice, “Fire! Fire! Fire! Fire!” 

Everyone in the ballroom stood still for a moment, 
screaming, and then they lowered their heads and 
scrambled for windows and doors. They pushed and 
tugged and they butted one another in their mad rush. 

Yes, the queen and king and the fine nobles butted 
into one another, just like goats. And then there was 
trouble! 


51 


The Forgetful Letter B 


And why shouldn’t there have been trouble, with all 
these people bumping into one another with their 
sharp-pointed crowns? 

Well, the king was first to make his way outside the 
ballroom. He was puffing, and his face was very red, 
and his clothes were torn and his back and sides were 
full of tiny stabs. The first thing he did was to take 
off his crown and wipe his face. Then he looked at the 
crown and gave a gasp of surprise. From one of its 
sharp points hung a duke’s coat-sleeve; from another 
point there hung a count’s coat-tail; from another 
point hung a prime minister’s ruffled shirt-front. 

“Oh, dear me!” cried the king, and he walked away 
from the palace as rapidly as his legs could carry him. 

Yes, the king hastened away from his palace, and 
soon came to the royal pasture, where his royal cows 
were eating grass. 

The king noticed that the cows wore round brass 
knobs upon the ends of their horns. He called to his 
cow-boy and said, “Tell me why my cows wear round 
knobs upon their horns.” 

And the cow-boy answered, “May it please your 
majesty, the cows are sometimes rude, and jab people 
with their sharp-pointed horns. So I fastened knob's 
on the ends of their horns, and now it does not hurt 
52 


Tells About the Letter W 

if anyone happens to be jabbed by them.” 

And at once the king ordered that all the crowns in 
his kingdom have round knobs fastened upon their 
sharp points like this: 



The queen was greatly delighted. She called for the 
letter W and said to him, “You are the one who caused 
the king to do away with sharp-pointed crowns. Here 
are five bags of gold and three bags of silver for you.” 

And to this day round knobs are fastened upon the 
sharp points of crowns, which you will see if you will 
look at a picture of a king or a duke. 


53 



CHAPTER 10 


The Forgetful Letter B Tells About the 
Letter that Became a Money-Guard 

I wish I were the letter S. 

He has two jobs. One of his jobs is to work in the 
Alphabet; his other job is to guard all the money there 
is in the United States. 

And S is the most wonderful guard! 

Oh, how I wish I were the letter S! 

Do you wonder how he came to be given the job of 
guarding all the money in the United States? 

I will tell you. 

Long ago, there was a grocer-man, who saved and 
saved his money until he had 99 dollars, and then he 
said to his wife, “What shall I do with all this money? 

54 


Tells About Letter That Beccime Money Guard 

If I bury it, someone might dig it up. If I hide it in 
the garret, the house might burn down. If I carry it 
in my pocket, I might spend it. What shall I do with 
my money?’’ 

And the wife said, “ Give it to a bear to keep for you. 
Bears cannot spend money.” 

So the grocer gave his 99 dollars to a big brown bear 
to keep for him, and the bear ate it up. 

Yes, the bear ate up the 99 dollars, and the grocer- 
man felt very badly. He scolded his wife, and said to 
her, “Why did you tell me to give my money to a 
bear?” 

“Dear me!” cried the wife, “I did not mean for you 
to give your money to a hungry bear.” 

Well, the grocer-man saved and saved again, until 
he had laid aside another 99 dollars, and he declared 
to his wife, “ I will not give this money to a bear ! ” 

The wife asked, “Whom will you have keep it for 
you?” 

“ I will use good sense this time,” answered the man. 
“I will give it to a fish to keep for me.” And he gave 
his 99 dollars to a fish that lived in the river. 

Yes, the man gave his money to a fish, and that night 
a fisherman caught the fish and sold it. 

“ Dear me, dear me ! ” wailed the grocer-man. “ Why 
55 


The Forgetful Letter B 


are fish so silly as to swallow fishermen’s hooks'?” 

But he was a thrifty grocer, and soon he had saved 
another 99 dollars. He puzzled for a long while, won- 
dering about whom he could trust with his money. He 
lay awake nights wondering, and he wondered during 



the day while he was measuring out sugar and salt, 
and putting turnips into bags. At last he said to his 
wife, “I have it! I will ask one of the Alphabet letters 
to stand guard over my money.” 

And at once the grocer-man came to the Alphabet, 
56 


Tells About Letter That Beceime Money Gueird 


and he looked over each letter to see which was the 
strongest. He felt President A’s muscles, and shook 
his head. He felt G’s muscles, and shook his head 
again. He felt K’s muscles, and he felt Z’s muscles, 
and he felt Y’s muscles, and he felt the muscles of 
every letter in the Alphabet until he came to S. 

Then he said to the letter S, “Let me feel your 
muscles.” 

The letter S thought for a moment and answered, 
“Please excuse me, Mr. Grocer-man, I have some busi- 
ness to attend to. I will be back shortly, however, and 
then you can feel my muscles.” 

So the letter S went to the Alphabet gymnasium, 
and he swung Indian clubs and chinned himself and 
turned flip flops and lifted heavy dumb-bells until his 
muscles were as big as an elephant’s. 

Then he came back and rolled up his sleeves and 
said to the grocer-man, “Now you can feel my 
muscles!” 

My gracious! The grocer-man was astonished when 
he felt the muscles of the letter S. “You are stronger 
than Samson!” he cried. “Now I will give you a flne 
job.” 

“What sort of a job will you give me?” asked S, a 
happy smile spreading over his face. 

57 


The Forgetful Letter B 


“I will give you a job guarding my 99 dollars,” 
replied the man. 

“Ob! ’’groaned S, looking disappointed. “I thought 
you were going to give me a job in a circus, as a strong 
man.” 

“Guarding 99 dollars is a much better job than 
traveling about the country with clowns and lions and 
tents,” said the grocer-man. 

“Well, then,” grumbled the letter S, “I suppose I 
will have to take the job. What must I do to be a 
money-guard?” 

The grocer-man answered, “All you will have to do 
will be to hold a big stick in your hand, like a police- 
man, and stand very still beside my money.” 

“Oh, that will be fine!” cried S in delight. “Hold- 
ing the big stick will make me look like a real police- 
man. But why cannot I hold two big sticks — then I 
will look like two policemen ! ” 

“Anything to please you,” replied the grocer. “You 
may hold a big stick in each hand while you are guard- 
ing my 99 dollars.” 

So the letter S was given two big sticks, and he held 
one in each hand, and stood on guard beside the 
grocer-man’s 99 dollars, looking like this: 


58 


$99 


Tells About Letter That Became Money Gueird 

Do you see the two big sticks that S is holding in his 
hands? And doesn’t he look brave and strong? 

Well, S turned out to be the very finest money-guard 
that ever lived, and before long, people from all over 
the United States brought him their money to guard. 

And, I tell you, whenever the letter S, with his big 
muscles and his two big sticks, stands guard over peo- 
ple’s money, the burglars had better keep away. 

Have you any money you wish guarded? 


59 



CHAPTER 11 

The Forgetful Letter B Tells About 
Santa Claus and Canta Slaus 

’Twas the night before Christmas, 

And all through the Alphabet 
Not a creature was stirring, 

Not even a mouse! 

Isn’t that a beautiful poem? 

I think it is, and I am the letter B, who knows all 
about poems. 

And, oh! isn’t Canta Slaus grand? When I say 
‘Canta Slaus’ I am speaking of Santa Claus’ brother. 

Santa Claus comes to see you on Christmas eve, and 
his brother, Canta Slaus, comes to see the Alphabet 
letters. 


60 


Tells About Santa Claus and Canta Slaus 


I do not think there is much difference between your 
Santa and our Canta, except in age, Santa Claus is 
2059 years old. And Canta Slaus is 2011 years old. 

Mrs. Claus-Slaus, who is the mother of the two 
brothers, does not allow the younger brother to stay 
out as late on Christmas eve as she does the older 
brother. 

Santa can stay out until after midnight, while Canta 
must be home and in bed by ten o’clock sharp. So you 
can see that we Alphabet letters have our stockings 
filled earlier than yours are filled. 

And I will tell you something else. It is a secret. 
Our Canta Slaus gives Christmas presents only to the 
letters that send him a birthday present on his birth- 
day, which is three days before Christmas. 

This is not selfish of Canta Slaus; it merely shows 
that he likes to be remembered as well as anyone else. 
Of course your Santa Claus does not do this way. Oh, 
no, indeed. 

And now I am going to tell you a story. 

Once, long ago, when it was three days before 
Christmas, each Alphabet letter made a birthday 
present to give Canta Slaus. All the letters, excepting 
the stuttering Z, made neckties to give. 

The letter Z made Canta a chocolate cake. 

61 


The Forgetful Letter B 


Oh, my, that chocolate cake looked good! All the 
letters gathered ’round the cake, looking at it and 
looking at it, and their mouths watered like every- 
thing. 

After a while President A whispered to the proud 
letter O, “I wish it were my birthday cake!” 

And the proud letter Gr whispered, “Let us send Z 
on an errand. While he is gone we will eat the cake.” 

So the stuttering letter Z was sent to the store for 
some holly, and while he was gone the other Alphabet 
letters ate the chocolate cake that had been baked 
for Canta’s birthday. And after they had eaten the 
cake, they sent their neckties to Canta. 

Yum, yum, yum! — I can taste that cake yet! 

Well, the poor letter Z felt very badly. He cried 
and cried, and said, “N-n-now I will not be given a 
Christmas p-p-present! Oh, dear, m-m-me!” 

Christmas eve came, and while all the letters were 
sleeping — Z had cried himself to sleep — Canta Slaus 
came down the chimney and put a candy mouse in 
President A’s stocking, and in all the other stockings 
excepting Z’s he put candy cheeses. Of course he did 
not put anything in Z’s stocking. 

After Canta had filled the stockings he hurried back 
to the North Pole, and was in bed by ten o’clock sharp. 

62 



63 







The Forgetful Letter B 


An hour passed by. The candy mouse in President 
A’s stocking began to twitch its nose. 

“I smell CHEESE!” whispered the mouse, and he 
climbed out of A’s stocking, and hopped into my stock- 
ing and ate my candy cheese. 

“Ymn, yum, yum!” said the candy mouse, “this is 
good cheese!” 

Sniff, sniff, sniff! And out of my stocking the candy 
mouse climbed, and over into C’s stocking he hopped, 
and he ate C’s candy cheese. 

After he had eaten the candy cheese in C’s stocking, 
he ate the candy cheese that was in D’s stocking, and 
E’s stocking, and then he — oh, well, he ate and ate and 
ate, until he came to Z’s stocking, which was EMPTY. 

“I guess I have eaten all the candy cheeses,” sighed 
the greedy candy mouse, and then he curled up in the 
toe of Z’s stocking and went to sleep. 

Then do you know what happened? 

Your Santa Claus came driving by. And he stopped 
his reindeers on the Alphabet’s roof. He sprang from 
his sleigh and said to himself, “My brother told me 
he was not going to give the stuttering Z a Christmas 
present. Poor little letter! How fortunate that there 
were one too many presents in my pack; I will give Z 
the present I have left over.” 

64 


Tells About Santa Claus and Canta Slaus 


So down the Alphabet’s chimney Santa scampered, 
and he tip-toed to where Z’s stocking hung, and 
dropped the left-over present into it, right on top of 
the sleeping candy mouse that was stuffed with 
twenty-four candy cheeses! 

Ho, ho, ho, HO! 

The left-over present was a candy cat! 

And then Santa Claus whisked back up the chimney. 


65 



CHAPTEE 12 

The Forgetful Letter B Tells You His Last 
Story, and Bids You Good Night 

As this is my last story, I hope you will like it. It 
is about Mr. Etc. Are you acquainted with him? 

He and the Alphabet letters are fine friends, and he 
comes to visit us every day, and we always ask him 
to stay for dinner. 

Yes, we invite Mr. Etc to stay for dinner, and he 
always says, “Thank you so much. I shall be de- 
lighted.” And then he sits down at the table with us. 
When everyone is seated. President A raps upon the 
table and tells us what there is to eat. He always does 
this. He raps — tap, tap, tap, and says, “For dinner 
to-day we will eat sqnash, cream-puffs, etc!” 

66 


Tells You His Last Story 


Then everybody claps his hands, excepting Mr. Etc. 
He does not seem to like the food that President A says 
we will eat. He always turns sort of pale, and whis- 
pers to President A, “I beg your pardon, what did you 
say we are to eat to-day?” 

And President A cries in a loud voice, “For dinner 
to-day we will eat squash, cream-puffs, etc!” 

“Ah, yes! To be sure!” is what Mr. Etc then says. 
“Hum-m-m-m — oh, yes, indeed!” And then he puts 
on his hat and hurries away, without waiting to eat a 
bite. 

Well, I had better be telling my story. It is about 
how Mr. Etc came to be friends with the Alphabet 
letters. 

Once there was a very rich man, and he was not at 
all happy. He had more wealth than he knew what 
to do with, but that was not the cause of his unhappi- 
ness. What troubled him was his name. He had too 
much name. 

His name was so long that he could not carry it. He 
had to leave it at home, and when people asked him 
who he was, he was obliged to take them to his home 
and show them, instead of telling them on the spot. 

Well, the rich man felt very badly. And one day 
while walking along the street he felt so badly that 
67 


The Forgetful Letter B 


he began to cry. At that moment Mr. Etc happened to 
pass by. He said to the rich man, “Why are you 
crying?’’ 

“Boo, hoo, hool” sobbed the rich man, “come with 
me to my home and I will show you.” So Mr. Etc went 
to the rich man’s home. And the rich man pointed to 
his name, while the tears ran in streams down his 
cheeks. 

Oh, dear! no wonder the poor fellow cried! 

He had one last name, which was Smith. That was 
all right, of course. But he also had fifteen first 
names. Just think of it! If your father’s name were 
John Henry Jones, how would he write it? He would 
write it like this: 

J. H. Jones. 

Which would be no trouble at all. But when Mr. Etc 
looked upon the rich man’s name this was what he saw: 
Q. W. E. R. T. Y. U. I. 0. P. A. S. D. F. G. Smith! 

Yes, Mr. Etc saw this great long name, and he also 
saw a sign hanging above the name, which read: 


REWARD! 

Mr. Smith, who is very rich, will give 
one big bag of diamonds to the one 
who has a longer name than his! 


68 


Tells You His Last Story 


After Mr. Etc had looked at Mr. Smith’s long name 
for several minutes, he turned and said, “I pity you, 
Mr. Q. W. E. R. T. Y. U. I. O. P. A. S. D. F. G. Smith. 
And I am glad to know you are so kind hearted as to 
give a bag of diamonds to the one who has a longer 



name than yours. Will you come and visit me to- 
morrow?” 

“Boo, hoo!” sighed Mr. Smith, “yes, I will come 
visit you to-morrow. Where do you live?” 

Mr. Etc really had no home, but he was polite, and 
pretended he had one, so he said, “I live in— I live in 
69 


The Forgetful Letter B 


the Alphabet!” He said that he lived in the Alphabet 
because it was the first place that entered his mind. 

Well, the next afternoon Mr. Etc bought a box of 
round black periods, and hastened to the Alphabet 
home. He gave each Alphabet letter a round black 
period, as a present, and said, “May I live with you 
this afternoon, and pretend that your Alphabet home 
is my own home?” 

“To be sure!” cried President A, who was delighted 
with his round black period. “You may live beside 
the stuttering letter Z. 

Mr. Etc took his place beside the stuttering letter 
Z, and no sooner was he comfortably settled than the 
rich man entered. The rich man looked about him, 
and this is what he saw: 

A. B. C. D. E. E. G. H. I. J. K. L. M. N. 0. P. Q. 

E. S. T. H. V. W. X. Y. Z. Etc! 

The rich man’s eyes almost popped from his head as 
he saw Mr. Etc, and, without saying a word, he turned 
and ran back to his own home. There, he filled a large 
bag with sparkling diamonds. 

Then he returned to the Alphabet home and gave 
the bag of diamonds to Mr. Etc. 

Ho, ho! Mr. Etc was too shy to ask the rich man 
why the diamonds were given him, and he was too shy 
70 


The Forgetful Letter B 

to not take them. So he just said, “Thank you,” and 
let it go at that. 

After the rich man had finished his visit, Mr. Etc 
gave each of the Alphabet letters a pretty diamond. 

And from that day on, the letters and Mr. Etc have 
been fine friends. 


71 







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